Replaced the flaky digitizer in my TX today with a glass replacement from PdaParts.com! Question regarding digitizer drift?

[Deaj]

My TX is like new again!

I have been having the same trouble with mine as has been described here over and over again - digitizer drift, less sensitivity to stylus input, areas of the digitizer had become all but unusable.

The installation was pretty straightforward, 15 minutes start to finish including cleaning the front bezel thoroughly. The writing surface felt odd at first but a quick cleaning and now it feels great! Accuracy is spot on too!

The stock digitizer has been slowly deteriorating since the beginning and I was really growing tired of having to almost stab at the screen at times to get anything done. Add to this the building frustration over the ever worsening drift causing me to have to learn a variety of 'nearby' clicks to get things done. After reading all of the discussions related to Palm replacement "digitizers doing the same thing I was really beginning to lean hard towards dumping the TX and going back to the HP HX4700 Pocket PC I carried before the TX.

I'd read some promising feedback on the PdaParts.com glass digitizer and decided to give it a go. So far I'm very impressed. It works far better than in did then when my TX was new.

So here's the big question: Was the original Palm TX digitizer part the culprit in the 'digitizer drift' issues or does this problem lie elsewhere in the TX. Has anyone had trouble with unrecoverable digitizer drift using the PdaParts glass digitizer? Conversely, does anyone have a success story in this area - "replaced the digitizer, perma-drift went away" kind of stories?

I'm really pleased with the TX again and I'm hoping that I'm done with the digitizer problems for good.

[Gregte]

Yes the digitizer is the cause of drift. I have also replaced mine with the glass.

If you read enough of the threads on this issue there are some that tell how the digitizer works and it can be seen that the faulty digitizer is indeed what causes the drift.

[Phenomenon101]

ah, I envy you both. I'd like to get one, but 60 for a digi is just too much for me right now. If I'm right a lot of people have had the whole "I replaced my digi and it's as good as new" stories. Never heard anyone complain about their glass digitizers (unless they installed it incorrectly).

[Nine]

Thanks for the update, Deaj

[Dick Tracy]

Thanks for the report deaj, especially how long it took.

I heard many complaints about glass digitizers (before Palm switched to plastic) when users cracked/shattered/broke them, especially when placed in a pants pocket without a hard case. There is a tradeoff between plastic or glass: drift or crack.

[Deaj]

Yes the digitizer is the cause of drift. I have also replaced mine with the glass.

If you read enough of the threads on this issue there are some that tell how the digitizer works and it can be seen that the faulty digitizer is indeed what causes the drift.

That's comforting given the cost of the new digitizer.

[RickAgresta]

not meaning to burst the bubble, but as it is a moving (okay, flexing) part, even a glass-backed digitizer will show signs of wear, at some point. So far, mine's been great, over almost 4 months. The OEM plastic one was showing funkiness after 2 months. continued good luck (to us all)

[BAB2000]

Rick, this may be a TX thing.

My IIIxe, (glass) and m515, (plastic), both are SPOT-ON.

My TX will likely receive a Glass one in the near future as well.

[reb1]

The resistive type touch screens that are on the handhelds are a four wire type. Many of the commercial units also use a plastic digitizer but it is made of a different compound than the one in the TX and has better support. There are touch screens with plastic digitizers that work fine. These need to be specked at the time of manufacture. Many of these units last the life of the product with no major problems. I really like my TX but my next devise will not have a cheap touchscreen. Yes the touch screens on previous palms had glass digitizers on them. They were a joy to use and I really miss this feature. There is a five wire system that would work even if the digitizer was weak like on the TX. Again all these features need to be addressed at the time of manufacture. I wish palm would give us the option of paying for an upgraded TX. It appears that palms only interest is in making more smart phone models. But even these are starting to loose market apeal.

[deserttaxguy]

Add my enthusiastic gratitude to the ranks of other pleased with replacing their screen with the glass one. I wish I had taken some photos to show the part of the replacement that was not covered on their video, because I had a moment of confusion trying to take the LCD frame off, but I figured it out. I only had to soft reset, then calibrate and now its very nice.
Do I understand correctly that now I don't need to use a screen protector?
I use those nice Boxwave Styra stylus and it writes very well. If I don't need a screen protector, l'd go without. Thanks